1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to bailers. More particularly, it relates to a bottom-emptying device that engages the outside of a bailer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Common bailers agitate the liquid fluid into which they are dropped, thereby increasing the turbidity of the sample that is collected. Turbid samples are unacceptable for environmental analysis because the particulate matter contained therein is introduced into the sample by the agitation created by the sample collection process. The collected sample thus does not represent the liquid fluid in the body of water.
A co-pending patent application by the present inventor, entitled “Bailer With Tapered And Ogive Nose Cones,” application Ser. No. 10/248,378, filed Jan. 15, 2003, substantially solves the agitation and turbidity problem by providing a bailer having a tapered leading end. The taper allows the bailer to slice into the liquid fluid with a minimum of agitation and thus a minimum of turbidity.
A free-floating ball is positioned within the tapered leading end. The tapered leading end is therefore sometimes referred to as a valve housing. When the free-floating ball is fully seated within a valve seat formed on an interior surface of the valve housing, liquid fluid within the hollow interior of the bailer is sealed within said hollow interior. When the free-floating ball is unseated from the valve seat, liquid fluid within the hollow interior of the bailer flows past the unseated ball and into the lumen of a downspout. Thus the ball is understood to serve as a check valve.
The downspout has a wide diameter if the liquid fluid is drained into a wide-mouth container and the downspout has a narrow diameter if the liquid fluid is drained into a vial or a test tube.
Bailers are best emptied from the bottom because unacceptable amounts of oxygen are introduced into the sample if the bailer is decanted from the top.
Various devices have been developed to facilitate bottom-emptying, but the known devices do not perform the emptying process in an optimal manner. For example, a user must insert such devices into the hollow interior of the bailer from the lowermost end of the bailer. The liquid fluid starts to flow from the bailer as soon as the ball that serves as a check valve is unseated. The hands of the person handling the bottom-emptying device are therefore wetted. If the liquid fluid is highly acidic or otherwise dangerous, use of such a bottom-emptying device is unacceptable, Even if the fluid is not dangerous, the user may not care to get his or her hands wet, especially during cold weather.
An improved bottom-emptying device is therefore needed. The improved device would be easy to install but would not result in wetting of a user's hand.
However, in view of the prior art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the art could be advanced to provide a bottom-emptying device that prevents a user's hands from coming into contact with the liquid fluid being drained from a bailer.